In the 13-year period of 2005 through 2017, canines killed 433 Americans. Pit bulls contributed to 66% (284) of these deaths. Combined, pit bulls and rottweilers contributed to 76% of the total recorded deaths. | More »

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Owner Claims DogsUPDATE 05/16/09: On Friday, the owner of the two pit bulls appeared at the county animal shelter to identify the two male dogs. Authorities said that the owner, Jamie Whitmer, signed over custody of the animals.Following the 10-day quarantine, the dogs will be euthanized. Since no previous animal-related charges have been filed against the owner (owners must first receive a warning before being issued a citation) it's unlikely that any charges will be filed.

Virginia is a "one bite free" state, as well as a "contributory negligence" state. So, every dog gets one free bite -- in the instance of a pit bull or rottweiler, one free mauling or killing -- prior to legal action. However, dog bite attorney Kenneth Phillip notes, "if the owner or another person caused the accident by being negligent or breaking a law, such as a leash law, then that person will be held legally liable." The contributory negligence aspect is also eye-opening:

Contributory negligence "Making matters worse for all kinds of accident victims, Virginia also follows another ancient and inhumane doctrine, called the "contributory negligence" rule. It says that a person who is even one percent responsible for an accident has no legal right whatsoever to recover compensation for medical bills or anything else. There are only 4 states in the USA that follow this terrible, 18th century rule."

DogsBite.org hopes that the victims, Tammy Powers and 3-year old Hunter Ryder, hire an astute dog bite attorney. It's clear that the State of Virginia makes few, if any, allotments on behalf of victims of dog bites and serious dog maulings. Virginia's dog laws, no matter their prehistoric "farm day" roots, serve only to protect owners of aggressive dogs. Thankfully, 30 other U.S. states have rejected the "one bite rule" and 46 states have rejected "contributory negligence."

As of Thursday night, Hunter was still hospitalized.

05/15/09: Animal Control Called 3 Times The original article also reported that animal control had been called several times about the loose pit bulls prior to the double mauling. Neighbor Amanda Kreitz said, "We called (animal control) Monday and Tuesday, and we were here the last three or four days," she said, adding that she doesn’t think she would have missed their presence. Animal control, however, said they drove through the area on Monday but did not see the animals.

In 2005, in the adjacent county of Spotsylvania, 82-year old Dorothy Sullivan was killed by loose pit bulls. The owner of the pit bulls, Deanna Large was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 3 years in prison. In a 2007 civil suit, the Sullivan family unsuccessfully sued Spotsylvania County Animal Control, which reportedly knew Large's dogs frequently ran loose, had attacked neighbors and killed pets and that Large was operating an unlicensed kennel.

Between 2007 to March 2009, throughout the period of the civil suit, county animal control departments across Virginia must have been watching the case closely, particularly nearby counties, such as Culpeper. A guilty verdict would have left the officers financially "on the hook" for gross negligence after a serious or fatal mauling. The Sullivan family had argued that the officers should have done "more investigating" after Sullivan's repeated calls about the dogs.

As depicted in the death of Dorothy Sullivan and the recent Culpeper maulings, which sent two victims to emergency care in LifeFlight helicopters, several phone calls to animal control about loose pit bulls ought to be taken very seriously.

05/14/09: Pit Bull Injury is Not a "Dog Bite" Culpeper, VA - Two loose pit bulls severely mauled a 3-year old boy and his grandmother yesterday. Two separate LifeFlight helicopters were used to fly the victims to emergency care. The slideshow created by the Star-Exponent tells the horrific story and illustrates the difference between a "dog bite" and a pit bull attack. The latter often requires one or more ambulances and helicopters along with numerous paramedic personnel and police officers.

According to county officials and neighbors, the attack happened southeast of town in the 21000 block of Mount Pony Road around 10:30 a.m. The boy and the woman were walking near their home when the loose pit bulls launched an attack. According to Star-Exponent correspondent Greg VanNostrand, the child received severe wounds to his head and scalp, forcing workers on the scene to apply a large bandage. The woman suffered bite wounds below the waist.

The wounds suffered in this attack are the direct result of the pit bull breed, selectively bred to inflict severe and deadly injury.

According to Animal Control Director Jamie Bennett, the two pit bulls were both male, unneutered and lacked identification. It's illogical to assume that the owners of the pit bulls will now come forward to claim their dogs. Once again we see the painful reality of the pit bull problem. The dogs are unidentifiable, therefore: Criminal prosecution is impossible; civil recourse for the victims is impossible and the pit bull owner suffers zero consequences.

In a separate attack, a pit bull mauled a 5-year old boy in Coracopolis yesterday.—-CORAOPOLIS (KDKA) ― Tyler Williams, 5, was taken to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh after being attacked by a pit bull. It happened at the home of the victim’s aunt at 1012 Birch Way in Coraopolis. The pit bull belonged to the aunt’s boyfriend…

ATTENTION PARENTS:Do NOT let your children visit relatives that own directly or that have a “boyfriend” that owns a pit bull, specifically a CHAINED UP pit bull. This is a recipe for DISASTER. Because this attack occurred on “owner property” and because the dog was “chained” there may be NO criminal or civil liability.

Animal control is useless. It has been so infiltrated by pit nutters that you can’t expect any reasonable action to be taken. They had known about these dogs running loose for days and did nothing. This family should sue the hell out of them and the county, as well as the sheriff department, for not doing their jobs. The owner has neighbors. Let’s hope they’re not too afraid of the scumbag to turn him in so he can share in the joy of the big pay out for the medical bills.

Even if the dogs were identifiable, the dog owners would only be penalized with minor fines:

“Although there are no state statutes dealing with such attacks, Bennett said that the owners would still face local charges because the dogs had no tags or collars and they were running free in a leash-law area.”

I sense a “shelter break in” at the Culpeper County Animal Shelter. I hope that Bennett watches those 2 dogs like a hawk.http://tinyurl.com/rd9uwy

Animal control director Bennett must be aware of the potential legal ramifications. She points out on TWO occasions that the dogs did not “appear” to be aggressive.

1.) “To look at these two dogs now you would never suspect that they could be aggressive,” Bennett said.

2.) “He said a woman in the Mount Pony area had called Monday and reported seeing two pit bulls running loose in the area the day before, but thought they were lost pets. The caller made no mention of aggressive behavior, Bennett said.”

ROAMING pit bulls do not EVER need the appearance of being aggressive to be taken seriously! Animal control officers know this BETTER than anyone else. The attitude and statements coming out of Bennett boarder on reprehensible.

In 2005, in the adjacent county of Spotsylvania, 82-year old Dorothy Sullivan was killed by loose pit bulls. The owner of the pit bulls, Deanna Large was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 3 years in prison. In a 2007 civil suit, the Sullivan family unsuccessfully sued Spotsylvania County Animal Control, which reportedly knew Large’s dogs frequently ran loose, had attacked neighbors and killed pets and that Large was operating an unlicensed kennel.

Citizens bear partial responsibility. Animal control routinely gets the bottom of the barrel scrapings of city and county budgets. Spending on animal control is not considered a high priority. They are denied the training, equipment, and number of employees they need to do their jobs adequately. Until people push their city councils and county commissioners to make animal control a higher priority, they will get exactly what they pay for: apathetic, ill trained individuals with too many cases and not enough time in the day to cover them all.

Not buying it totally…Dog licensing compliance rates are under 25 percent nationally and most A/C departments leave $Hundreds of thousands of uncollected license revenue on the table in most places annually. Then they line up to be fed through the general fund.

They need adults to run these departments who can at least prioritize public safety and fiduciary responsibility on a level at least coequal with placing pit bulls.

A/C reps like Tom Skeldon who aggressively collect licensing revenue and enforce the law are treated like pariahs within the A/C community.

The A/C community needs an enema especially with the population explosion of Pit Bulls.

In an article this morning, the owner has come forwarded but she’s covering up for someone. Says the dogs lived 6 miles away, give me a break. This “owner” is covering for someone and does so because “it ain’t no big deal” to get a little old misdeanor charge, might be if you are already a felon.

I don’t think it’s a cover up job. The dog owners lived six miles from the attack. So the roaming, attacking pit bulls, went a heck of a distance THEN attacked. A quality shared by no other dog breed (because in this instance, we are not talking about STRAY dogs or a pack of STRAY dogs.)

“Friday afternoon, a man who answered the door at the residence expressed sympathy and shock at what happened, but said they were too upset and distraught to make any further statements at this time. The home is about six miles from the scene of the attacks.”

Hard to imagine any dog going six miles without getting hit by a car. I know there are exceptions but I just find this one too hard to believe. And the fact that they didn’t stop to be aggressive to any body or another dog along the way sounds too far fetched to me. I vote this woman is covering for a relative in this neighborhood.

I see where you are coming from P. Six miles sure is a long way. The last “distance” stunner I read about was in South Africa. The pit bulls traveled 3km then killed a boy.

“Three pit bull terriers, owned by a police officer, mauled a seven-year-old boy to death. The boy’s grandfather was also injured in the attack; he was lucky to escape with his life, said spokesperson Captain Cherelle Ehlers. Police are “baffled” as to why the dogs pounced on young Austin Pieters, and how they had managed to get out of their yard. “The dogs got out of their yard and walked 3km by the time they came across the boy,” Ehlers said.”

Once again, another pit bull attack on the innocent (“2 injured in dog attack,” May 14).

When in the heck is someone going to step up and make laws on these aggressive dogs? How many more children are going to be mauled before someone does something?

I get so sick of these people defending this breed. No common sense whatsoever. Automatic weapons are illegal not because everyone would go shoot up a school but because of the dangerous potential they have. It is the exact same with pit bulls. They have the capability to do a lot of damage. Why do we let just anyone own one? Why is the reckless breeding of this breed allowed?

The even sadder truth is these dogs can do this and be set free to do it again. They get a dangerous dog stamp. What justice is that for the innocent people attacked? If a dog does this once, they will do it again. They are animals, not people. You cannot give them therapy or have a long talk with them in hopes of recovery.

When any dog attacks in a vicious manner outside of its home, it should be automatically put down. Owners should have to pay up for the victims’ pain and suffering.

It will be a great day when people care more for a human life and rights than an animal’s.